Business Budgeting and Forecasting Software

June 11, 2013

Business Budgeting and Forecasting Software

It's surprising in this day and age to find organisations still using spreadsheets for the collection of business budgets and forecasts. Despite the availability of enterprise solutions that eliminate many of the problems caused by spreadsheet based systems, according to surveys the spreadsheet is still the number 1 tool.
Much of the reason for this is down to their prevalence, ease of use and apparent low cost, but as anyone who has used a spreadsheet for collecting budgets or forecasts will know, they incur other penalties. For example, when setting up a sheet, ideally each needs to be customised for individual departments with perhaps last years actuals as comparatives, which takes time and effort.

Then there is the task of handing them out, and the more difficult collection and collation process. With a spreadsheet-based system there is no control over what the users enter, when they send it back, or in dis-allowing changes once a submission has been returned. For the person responsible for consolidating results, there's the issues of making sure everyone has sent back a complete version, linking the sheets onto a master sheet, while hoping that users haven't changed its layout or inserted/deleted rows.
Assuming that the data is correct, the fun now starts in analysing results. How does the new budget compare to actual and forecasts? What departments figures are out of line with current trends, and have they adequately resourced strategic initiatives?
And if a new budget pass is required or you want to collect a forecast, the sheets will need to be adjusted, handed out - all with the aforementioned problems occurring once again.
Specialised business budget and forecasting software like Financial Driver eliminate most if not all of these issues. Their secure, central database approach means that individual departments automatically get the right tailored information, and that once submitted the numbers sent can't be changed. For an administrator they can see the status of the budget or forecast at any time, and the system will automatically aggregate data and make it available for analysis at the touch of a button.

Although these types of budgeting and forecasting software have been around for many years, their cost and complexity have typically ruled them out - hence the reason why spreadsheet-based budgeting systems persist. However, Financial Driver is revolutionising business budgeting and forecasting software.
With its simple, cloud based approach, budget and forecasting applications can be set up in a matter of hours. Using just a web browser, users interact with the system from any location and any Internet connected device. There's no budget software to buy or maintain, just an incredibly low monthly rental cost and yet administrators have full control over the entire budget and forecast process as any mainstream system.
Find out for yourself how Financial Driver can transform your budget and forecast processes by taking a look at the overview section. Or why not try a free trial?